The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) has recorded twelve cases of violence and intimidation against journalists Papua during 2012,which is a significant increase as compared with 2011, when there were seven cases.

The first case was violence and intimidation against journalists in Papua and West Papua wanting to cover the trial of Forkorus Yaboisembut and his colleagues at the district court in Jayapura on 8 February when they were physically intimidated, pulled and pushed as they were entering the courtroom. Those responsible were members of the police force in Jayapura. The victims were: Katerina Litha of Radio KBR 68 H Jakarta. Robert Vanwi of Suara Pemnaharuan, Jakarta, Josrul Sattuan of TV One, Irfan of Bintang Papua, and Cunding Levi of Tempo.

The second case was against Radang Sorong, a journalist with Cahaja Papua and Paskalis of Media Papua, from February until May in West Papua by the police chief of Manokwari, who were preventing journalists from reporting expressions of support for dialogue and a referendum in Papua. Three local journalists said that they had been under pressure while writing critical reports about political matters, law and human rights violations and political prisoners. One of the journalists from Manokwari was instructed to restrict his reporting about political, legal matters and human rights violations.

The third case was in Abepura on 20 March when Josrul from TV One, Marcel from Media Indonesia, Irfan from Bintang Papua and Andi Irfan of Radio KBR 68 H Jakarta were attacked by members of KNPB, the National Committee of West Papua who were involved in an action outside the Post Office in Abepura. On a separate occasion, outside Polimak, Jayapura, Timbar Gultom of Papua Pos was ordered to identify himself. When he replied that he was from Papua Pos, the people did not believe him and started chasing him. He was able to hide in a house nearby.

The fifth case was when three journalists in the district of Jayapura, Yance of Radio Kenambai Ombar, Putu of KBR 68 H Jakarta and Suparti of Cenderawasih Pos were verbally intimidated and chased by some members of the KNPB.on 20 March.

The sixth case was when a journalist from TV One, Josrul Sattuan was beaten by an unidentified person when he was trying to report on the situation in Jayapura following a series of violent incidents and shooting incidents that occurred in various in places in Jayapura. The physical attack occurred at Abepura Circle on Thursday evening on 7th June.

The seventh case was when a journalist from Metro TV, Abdul Muin who was in Manokwari was attacked by someone from the Fishing Service in who intimidated him with an air gun.The victim told JUBI that the incident started when a member of the Fishing Service sent him a brief message on 8th June asking him and other journalists to cover an incident of bombing a hoard of fish by a group of people who were being held in the Manokwari Prison.

The eighth case occurred in Timika on 20 September.The victim was Mohammad Yamin, a contributor to RCTI, Simson Sambuari of Metro TV, Husyen Opa of Salam Papua and the photographer for Antara News Agency, and David Lalang of Salam Papua.They were prevented from recording some events in the Pamako Harbour.

The ninth case involved Oktavianus Pogau of suarapua.com and stringer for Jakarta Globe. This occurred in Manokwari on 22 October. Okto were beaten up by several members of the police force, some in uniforms and others not wearing their uniforms, who were battling with members of the KNPB in Manokwari. The victims was thought to be part of a crowd of people involved in a demonstration, even though they had clearly identified themselves.

The tenth case was when Sayied Syech Boften of Papua Barat Pos was attacked on 1 November by a person who identified himself as a member of the local legislative assembly, Hendrik G. Wairara. The victim was threatened and intimidated among others things by phone. The victim was warned to stop reporting about corruption in a project involving the extension of the electrification system and the maintenance of BBM machinery in Raja Ampat District. On the same day, the assistant of the chairman of the the local DPRD flew into a rage while he was at the editorial office of Papua Barat Pos.

The eleventh case occurred on 8 November when Esau Miram of Cenderawasih Pos was intimidated as he was reporting on a gathering at the office of the Commander of the XVII Nilitary Command and all the heads of departments in Papua.They were accused of being terrorists even though Esau had shown his identity card as a journalist.

The twelfth case occurred on 1 December when Benny Mawel of JUBI was interrogated by members of the police force near Abepura Circle for reporting about a large crowd of people who were carrying banners while marching from Abepura to Waena. Benny showed his journalist identity card, but a group of around ten people accused him of not being a journalist. As he was travelling on his motorbike towards a repair centre, he was followed by some people there who starting asking whether he knew where Benny was.

Victor Mambor added the following: AJI reported two cases, the shooting of a Twin Otter plane belonging to Trigana Air by an unidantified person in Mulia Airfield, Puncak Jaya on 8th April which killed Leiron Kogoya who was first said to be a journalist of Papua Pos, Nabire and then the arrest and deportation of a Czech man, Petra Zamencnik who identified himself as a journalist with finecentrum.com. On 9 February, there was inconsistently about the status of the victim, whether he was a journalist or not, or whether he was involved in journalistic activities.

Suroso also confirmed that when the identity of Leiron was checked, it turns out that he was not at the time engaged in journalistic activities.but had gone to Mulia for personal reasons. Leiron had not registered himself as a journalist of Papua Pos Nabire. As regards Petr Zamencnik. he was unable to prove that he was a journalist. AJI Jayapura sought confirmation with finecentrum.com about his status and he was described as being the editor for financial affairs in the Czech Republic.

Jayapura, KNPBnews – In their continuous efforts to destroy the legitimate movement of the people of West Papua who are fighting for their rights, Indonesian counter-intelligence operations have now created a rival organization called the West Papua Youth National Committee (Komite Nasional Pemuda Papua Barat, or KNPPB). The organization claims itself to be a forerunner of a self-claimed Republic of West Papua under the leadership of Yance Hembring, an agent of the Indonesian Republic.

The KNPPB, an acronym which bears a striking resemblance with KNPB, was created by Indonesia to further strike a blow at the genuine struggle for Papuan rights, led by the KNPB. The fact that Indonesia would instigate further attacks towards the good image of the political struggle of the people of West Papua was to be expected and it was also predicted. It was only a matter of time before journalists of the newspaper Bintang Papua, a number of which are mere agents of Indonesia, calculatedly published the news item concerning the establishment of this rival organ, based on information passed on by sources who are nothing more than the minions of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), and who have been paid to discredit the struggle of the people of West Papua, a struggle led by the KNPB and the people of West Papua.

Active monitoring of the online media shows that Yance Hembring’s group constitutes a faction of the OPM which has already surrendered to the Republic of Indonesia and which is now being used by Indonesia to influence and destroy the bases of the OPM. This faction is now also being used by Indonesia to recruit young people to destroy the KNPB by setting up the rival organ called KNPPB, in exchange for money.

The release today of this deceit by the newspaper Bintang Papua (issues numbers 14 and 15) has as main purpose to blacken the good image of the KNPB and to diminish the sympathy of the people of West Papua for the KNPB. Wim Metlama, KNPB’s National Spokesperson, said that Indonesia was resorting to the old ways of paying Papuans and Papuan newspapers in order to play their dirty political games and soiling the good image of the struggle of West Papua.

“Treacherous moves like these are not something new. These are old tricks that Indonesia has been using, but it has always been to no avail. And we are convinced that the people of West Papua are wise enough to recognise these dreadful tricks played by the colonisers. Even more so, this deceit only proves once again to the people of West Papua that Indonesia is in the habit of manipulating the truth and lying to the people, and precisely for that reason will they realise that the NKRI is truly an occupying colonial force in West Papua”, said Wim.

The newspaper Media Papua is unfortunately contributing to the spreading of the lie, by publishing the news item and disseminating the deceitful information into the public in West Papua. According to our monitoring, a month ago, Papua police chief Tito Karnavian had approached the board of editors of the newspaper Bintang Papua and he had asked them for their support for his colonial agenda. Soon, if not already, many agents of the printed media and other reporters in West Papua will be offered money in return for services to support the colonial program as Tito Karnavian has recently requested.

25 September 2012[Photo at the top of the report shows several of the police on guard, all of whom are heavily armed.]

The police who guarded the courthouse during the trial of Buchtar Tabuni made it difficult for some of the journalists wanting to cover the case to gain access to the court.

Benny Mawel of JUBI said: ‘I showed my press card but the police insisted that I open my bag and take everything in it out for them to examine’ He said that access to the court had been made difficult.

Journalists were interrogated and the police demanded to see the contents of their cases. ‘This happened not only to me but to other journalists,’ said Benny Mawel, ‘even though we had clearly displayed our press cards.’

This did not happen during the earlier hearings of the trial.

A journalist from Papua Pos Daily, Rudolf, also said he had been heavily investigated. His bag had also been searched. He said that before entering the court, he hung his press cord round his neck but even so, the police examined the contents of his bag.

While on the one hand regretting the measures taken against journalists by the police, Viktor Mambor, chairman of the Jayapura branch of the Alliance of Independent Journalists, AJI. said he hoped that journalists would understand what the police were doing.

”They certainly acted excessively and this should not be necessary this if journalists have clearly shown their press cards. But at the same time,’ he said, ‘I could understand what they were doing because during an earlier discussion I had with the chief of police, there was concern about the fact that the credentials of some of the journalists were suspect because of recent indications about the involvement of certain pressmen in the recent violent conflict in Papua.’

He went on to say that some time around July this year, a journalist had been interrogated by the police because he had reported that the Morning Star Flag had been flown on some occasions. In Papua, such reports only complicate matters because it stigmatises people, thereby legitimising excessive measures taken by the security forces. As Papuans, we have to understand this,’ he said.

The former chairman of the KNPB – National Committee for West Papua – was sentenced to eight months in prison, having been charged with inflicting damage on the prison where he was held. The sentence was less than the demand of the prosecutor who wanted the accused to be sentenced to one year. The eight month sentence will be reduced by the time the accused has already spent behind bars.Aggravating circumstances were that he had previously been sentenced and that his actions caused anxiety among the people, while the mitigating factor was that he had behaved politely in court.

Following the announcement of the verdict, the defence team said that they had not yet decided whether to launch an appeal against the sentence. ‘We are still thinking about how we will respond,’ said Gustav Kawar.

The defence team said that the sentence was light and the accused should have been released. However, according to Gustav Kawar. the panel of judges had given him a sentence as the result of external interference.
———————

Bintang Papua, 25 September 2012

After further consideration, the defence team said that the verdict had not been decided independently and had been seriously influenced by the authorities, Gustav Kawar told journalists. This influence had come from the security forces, that is to say the army and the police This was the factor that had caused the judges to hesitate before reaching their verdict. There were also doubts because of the fact that the testimony from several of the witnesses was contradictory. Nor had it been proven that the accused had been acting in consort with others.

According to Gustav Kawar, the Criminal Procedural Code (KUHP) stipulates that if any element in the charge has been proven to be invalid, the entire charge must be declared invalid. The accused as well as his defence team said that they would consider what to do in the coming seven days.

Security measures round the court

On the day the verdict was announced, around 230 security forces from the local and district forces, including personnel from the police intelligence unit, Brimob were among those standing guard.

The chief of police said that several elements of the security forces had taken part in security at the time of the various hearings. He asserted that they had discovered sharp weapons among the crowd of people outside the courthouse following the earlier hearings but after measures had been taken, this did not occur during the latter hearings.

Father John Djonga has been living and working in the district of Keerom and is now leaving West Papua and is handing over hist post to Father Ronnie Guntur.On his departure, he reflected on the situation in West Papua where he has been living and working for twelve years.. He spoke about the links he had made during his stay – with the government, with the military, with the traditional leaders, with the religious leaders and with the people, and spoke warmly about the support he had received.

He spoke about some development projects that are under way and said that basic problems continue to exist. He said that in many parts of the territory and particularly in the interior where the indigenous people live, the situation with regard to education and health is very worrying indeed.

‘These are matters of crucial importance for the dignity and welfare of the people. The issues of justice and equality also are very pressing indeed. ‘These are matters for which the government is responsible,’ he said.

With regard to economic problems, he said that people are losing their means of livelihood. The forests are being cut down whereas agricultural activities have not developed which means that the local people are not involved in any productive activities and all the productive work there is benefiting a small group of people who have been responsible for cutting down the forests and selling off the land of the people.

He also expressed his concern about the level of violence that is occurring and said that far from this declining it has increased. ‘Both sides, the government apparatus and the people resort to violence to resolve their problems. This never solves anything,’ he said. ‘On the contrary, it only complicates things.’

The people living in Keerom live in a constant state of fear and anxiety . There is no trust at all between the two sides, and the people live in a state of trauma because of the presence of the Indonesian military in every kampung. ‘This does nothing to improve relations; on the contrary, it only makes things worse.’

He said that traditional customs were declining and the availability of spiritual support is getting less and less. There are growing discrepancies and injustices between people of the different communities and this represents a great challenge to the need for mutual harmony and respect between the communities.

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